Uh Oh Lulu
by StandUpToCancer
Summary: R&R...Lucy is raped at 14, takes place season 12, not really sure. I never really watched season 3 through 5 or 10, so, yeah...
1. Chapter 1

I do not own 7th Heaven or any of the characters

"No! Stop!" Lucy cried, tossing over in bed. "Stop it!"

"Lucy" Mary whined, sitting up, "it's just a nightmare."

"No!" she was still asleep, still tossing. "Don't!"

"Lucy!" Mary whispered, leaning over to shake her sister awake. "Lucy, wake up!"

Her eyes opened, tear filled but staring straight at Mary. "He hurt me" she whispered. "It hurt so bad."

"It was just a dream"

"No it wasn't. It happened. This was a dream, but it was a dream about something that happened." She was half-hysterical, half-crying and half-screaming.

"What's wrong?" Matt had appeared in the doorway. "Lucy, what happened?" he was leaning over her bed.

"It wasn't just a nightmare" she insisted, tears pouring down in a waterfall.

"What wasn't?"

"Toby. He… he hurt me."

"What did he do?" she was practically in his lap now as he sat on the bed.

"Raped me." She mumbled into his shoulder.

"What?"

"He raped me." She repeated, lifting her head. "At a party, it was dark, someone had slipped something into my punch." she rushed, setting her head back down. "I don't know what happened."

"Are you sure this happened?" She nodded solemnly, her head rubbing against his strong shoulder.

"I'm going to get mom and dad" Mary whispered, turning on the bright light.

"No don't" Lucy protested, but she was held in place by Matt.

"What happened?" Annie asked a moment later, rubbing her eye.

"Lucy was telling me a story" Matt told her, "and I think you should here it."

"Lucy?" she asked, noticing her daughter's tear, "Lucy what's wrong?" but Lucy turned her head into Matt's shoulder, refusing to talk.

"She said…" Matt paused, "Mom, she said she was raped."

"Lucy?" Annie leaned next to her head, "Lucy is that true?" she nodded, sobbing.

"Oh Lucy" she sympathized, "can you tell me what happened."

"I guess" she said, tears stemming into a silent but steady flow. "It was at that party, Jane's. I thought it was going to be just a movie or something, but her brother invited his friends and someone must have put something in everyone's drinks cause we were acting funny. I didn't really have control and Toby, this guy in my English class said he liked me. Within a few minutes he was ontop of me. Someone tried to come in the room, that's when he stopped. I left with Macy a little bit later."

"How long ago was that party?"

"Two months." she said, grabbing a tissue, the tears were drying.

"Atleast you're not pregnant."

"What?"

"You would know by now, you wouldn't have gotten your period."

"Actually-"

"Oh my God." Annie bolted out of the room. Lucy was still in Matt's lap, and he hugged her tight. Mary still hadn't returned. "Come with me" she said, taking Lucy gently by the shoulder into the bathroom, a pregnancy test in hand.

"How long has it been?" Matt asked impatiently a few minutes later.

"One more minute" Annie answered, staring at her daughter.

Lucy had been huddled on her bed for the past few minutes, completely silent.

"We'll call the police in the morning" she reassured her for the thousandth time. Lucy only nodded in response, watching the test in front of her. Blocking it from her mother's view she watched it turn a ghostly pink.

"What does it say Luce?"

"I'm pregnant" she announced, realizing the fear that had lived inside her so long.

"My baby" Annie cried, wrapping her arms around her. Lucy cried again into her mom's arm, feeling dehydrated from all the tears she'd shed.

"I'll wake dad" Matt whispered, walking towards the open door. "Dad?" he whispered.

"What?"

"Dad, Lucy..." he sighed, "Mom and Lucy have something to tell you." Slowly Eric headed towards the door as Matt went in search of Mary, finding her in the kitchen.

"I was there that night" she told him. "I saw him pull her in."

"It's not your fault Mary."

"No, it isn't." she agreed. "But I could've stopped it. She's gonna have a baby, isn't she?" she stabbed her cake. "Isn't she?"

"That doesn't-"

"Yes it does matter. And she is. I know it."

"You can't blame yourself." He said, sitting on the stool next to her.

"Or can I?"

"You can," he confessed, "you are, but you shouldn't."

"I can't talk to you right now" she mumbled, taking her cake slice into her father's office and locking the door.

"Could this night get any worse?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Stop it!" Lucy demanded. They were pointing. They were all pointing. They must know, but who told them? How did they find out? "Stop pointing!"

"Luce, calm down." Matt insisted, handing her a couple tissues, "No body knows, but they're going to suspect if you keep acting so paranoid."

"They do know" she insisted, accepting the tissue. "I threw up in the middle of my last two classes and wasn't sent home, they know."

"They suspect" he reassured her, "but by acting like this you're adding fuel to the fire."

The bell above them rang; they were both late to class. Scattered students ran in all directions, holding out hope not to be marked tardy. "Come on" he said, putting an arm around her, "let's wipe off your tears and I'm sure someone in the office will give you a pass, okay?"

"Okay" she sighed, heading to the nearby office. She wiped away her tears as Matt talked to the secretary.

"She thought they were teasing her" he tried to explain.

"But they weren't?"

"No, not really." This argument was getting nowhere, "look, she's had a rough time the past few weeks, and she's getting a bit paranoid. What's the harm of one pass for the minister's daughter when she's had a rough time, huh?"

"The harm is everyone else will say there "having a rough time" and try getting passes too." She insisted, turning back to her papers.

"Come on, please? I don't want one, just my sister."

"What part of "no" don't you understand?" she asked, not looking up. If she had she would have noticed that Matt wasn't focusing on her, he was watching his sister's face, which had gone quickly from blotchy red to very, very pale, maybe even a little green.

"I…" she croaked, and then took off, speeding towards the nurse's office bathroom, which was nearest.

"Hey, you can't go in there" the nurse called as Lucy bolted through. Matt followed, just in time to see her head bowed over the toilet, her face shielded by mounds of hair. He swooped it back and held it until she had finished.

When her head titled back he handed her some paper towels. As she wiped away the vomit, she started to cry. "I can't do this." She wailed for all the office to hear. "I can't keep down a single meal. Everyone thinks I'm anorexic or something. They're all gonna laugh at me, I know it."

Calmly listening to his sister, Matt helped her up, and out of the bathroom, but before they could leave the office an angry nurse stopped them. "I need a name" she said, "her name."

"Lucy Camden" he answered for her, hands protectively on her shoulders as he grabbed her bag from the chair behind him.

"And does she have a grade and reason for being here?"

"Ninth grade" he answered, a little annoyed, "and she was throwing up, you saw her."

"Which means she has to be picked up by her parents, and cannot return without a doctor's note."

"What?"

"You heard me Mr. Camden, a doctor's note."

"I have one" she squeaked, roaming around in her many pencil case pockets, "here"

The nurse's eyes scrolled quickly over the paper. "Congratulations Miss Camden." She said, handing it back, "you may go."

"Thanks" she blushed, bowing her head and replacing the note in her bag.

"She needs to be home" Matt argued that day after school. Lucy listened, hidden in the stairwell with Ruthie sitting on her knees as they shared milk and cookies. "She's causing scenes, getting paranoid. It's better for everyone's health if she's kept at home."

"It's not that simple" Annie sighed, handing him laundry to fold, "sure, I'd love to home school all of you, but they're so much work to do at home, and I have to watch Ruthie."

"Hey!" Ruthie screamed in protest, but Lucy was quick enough to cover her.

"That's why it would be perfect" he reasoned, "she could help you with laundry, cooking, and learn about what it takes for a family to run so smooth."

"Nice try Matt." She said, winking, "I'll talk to your father, but no promises, okay?"

"That's all I'm asking," he smiled, throwing his pile of folded laundry into the basket.

AN: okay, so I didn't realize that these two chapters start the same way….maybe I'll try to keep it that way….hhhmm….


	3. Chapter 3

"Stop it!" Lucy giggled, rolling around on her bed.

"No you stop it!" Ruthie insisted, her laugh higher pitched than her sister's.

"No you both stop it" Annie insisted, but she was laughing.

Lucy grabbed her sister by her armpits and swung her over her head and into her arms. "You're an airplane! Vroooom!" she screamed, flying her to the end of the bed. Annie watched in awe. Lucy had always shown that she'd loved her sister, but never really played with her. It was great to see her interact more with her. True, the rough housing wasn't particularly good for the baby, but Luce was being careful and Annie was watching them.

"Alright you too" Annie insisted, "come on Luce, time to put away laundry.

"I am putting away laundry" she told her, grabbing the pile at the end of her bed and stuffing it into the open drawer. "See?"

"Ah, so the three piles I've done and the one you have are equal? I don't think so missy." She plopped down another pile.

"I can help!" Ruthie screamed, grabbing a pile that was about half her size and heading over, slightly unbalanced to Mary's dresser.

"This is a Lucy job Ruth" Annie told her, taking the pile and replacing it on the bed.

"What if you finish the laundry and Ruthie helps me make lunch?" Lucy asked, placing another pile in its drawer, "we're nearly done anyways."

"But…yeah okay" she forfeited, it would be nice to have lunch ready immediately after she finished anyways. The girls made their way down stairs laughing and joking.

"Why do you stay home?" Ruthie asked as she messily spread peanutbutter onto her bread.

"Mom wanted me to learn some household skills" she answered, this was the response she'd been told to use.

"But Mary never stayed home." She insisted, now smashing jelly onto the slice.

"Well, let's just say I'm different then Mary." She answered, finishing Ruthie's sandwich before it became a mountain of jelly.

"Is it because of the baby?" she asked. How did she know? No one had told Ruthie. Simon, who'd recently had FLE, had figured it out, but Ruthie was six, how did she find out?

"What?"

"The baby, the one you're going to have." She was acting as if this was no big deal, "Oh come on, everyone's talking about it, I barley had to eavesdrop."

"Yeah," she sighed, placing the sandwhiches onto plates and bringing them to the table, "It's because of the baby."

"So when's the baby going to be here?"

"Five months" she answered proudly. Her stomach was defiantly sticking out from her, but didn't yet hinder too much movement.

"That's a long time to wait. Why can't you have it now?"

"If I had the baby now, it wouldn't be ready to come out. It would probably die."

"But it looks so big"

"What are you two talking about?" Annie asked as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and headed to get silverware.

"The baby." Ruthie told her. Annie shot Lucy a look that said, 'you told her?!'. "I figured it out myself."

"Well, Ruthie, this baby is kind of…a secret. We don't really want people to know until daddy tells them in his sermon tomorrow, okay?"

"I can keep a secret" she said, smiling as she locked her mouth with an imaginary key. "Promise."


	4. Chapter 4

"Stop" Lucy mumbled, opening her book, "Stop coming up to me."

"Lucy I'm so sorry"

"You're so innocent!"

"Be brave sweetie"

Different church members had been coming up to her all day, full of sorrow for her and, at least the older ones, well-intentioned advice. She's meant to spend the day – after changing from her service clothes - reading under the tree, but it seemed to be more and more impossible. She'd barley read a chapter, but had heard more advice then ever before.

"Lemonade?" Ruthie asked, holding a wobbly pitcher in her arms, some of the sour liquid escaped and splattered onto her bright pink dress. Simon had decided to set up a stand in the yard due to all the people passing by and Ruthie needed something to do. She was supposed to be attracting prospective customers by trying to tap dance in front of the stand, but after 3 spilled pitchers she'd given up.

"Yes please" she agreed, sitting up as she placed the bookmark back. Taking the pitcher, she helped Ruthie pour each of them a cup before sending the pitcher back to Simon. Ignoring the forgotten book they watched Mary and Matt, both in bathing suits, "wash" the car, when in reality they were getting water on themselves to cool off.

"HEY!" Mary screamed in protest as Matt aimed the full-blast hose at her.

"Hey's for horses!" Matt sang as she turned the hose back onto him. The water squirted past him onto Ruthie and Lucy. For a second it looked as if Ruthie were going to cry and Matt offered his apologies as he inched closer. When he was about a foot away her face lit up.

"GOTTCHA!" she and Lucy screamed in unison as they dumped the cups onto his head.

"Nice trick" he laughed, turning to aim his soapy bucket at them, but before he could Mary sent a jet of cool water over his shoulder and into their faces.

"That's it!" Lucy screamed, running to grab the hose from her sister. As if Lucy had the plague Mary dropped the hose and it squirted, writhing like a snake along the black driveway. Picking it up Lucy sent a jet of water spraying across the lawn, hitting Happy, contentedly lying at her owner's side.

"Hey! Watch where that water goes!" Simon screamed, throwing the towel he'd used to clean up the spilled pitchers onto Happy's back.

"I am!" Lucy responded, letting the water sprinkle down onto her youngest brother.

"That's it!" Simone screamed, pulling out his hidden water gun and aiming for his sister. Of course, neither of them noticed Mary, Matt, and Ruthie sneaking off to get the backyard hose until they had come back, sprinkling water on the quarreling siblings. Quickly, they united and sent their own stronger jet back. Handing the hose to Simon Lucy tried to get the soapy sponge to throw when she slipped on the slippery ground, skidding on her butt to the driveway's end. Matt hurried toward her as Mary and Ruthie went to turn off the back yard hose, and Simon the front. Lucy had turned onto her right as she'd skidded and was now somewhere between face-down and her right side, her arm lying oddly under her.

"My arm!" she cried as Matt drew carefully near her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, helping her turn onto her back so he could get a better look.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" she spat, pulling her arm away from him. "ow."

"What happened?" Annie asked, running to see what happened, but it was obvious as she drew nearer. "Matt go get your father and some towels, okay?" Not answering, he sped off towards the house. Carefully, Annie turned to Lucy. "Does this hurt?" she asked, gently trying to bend the arm a bit. Not answering except for tears, Lucy pulled the arm away again. "I'll take that as a yes" Annie sighed, standing, "come on, we're going to the hospital." She told her, offering her hand. With difficulty Lucy stood, relying on her mother to help her stay steady.

By the time they got to the car Eric had spread towels in the back for Lucy to sit on, and the others were taking down the lemonade stand and bringing it in. Matt and Mary would watch Ruthie and Simon while Eric and Annie took Lucy to the hospital.

XXXXXXX LATER XXXXXXX

"The baby looks fine" the doctor reported, pacing in front of the nervous group. Lucy sat on the doctor's bed, swinging her legs nervously and petting her arm. Her parents stood nervously behind her, hanging on the doctor's every word. "But her arm is broken in two places. It should be easy to repair, but she won't be able to swim for a while, probably most if not all of the summer. Tonight she should put something cold on her arm to keep the swelling down, but we need to wait to put on the cast until after the swelling stops. Any questions?" Lucy shook her head, "Good, you can make an appointment to get your cast tomorrow on the way out, and if you have any questions at all, don't be afraid to call."

"At least the baby's okay, right?" Lucy asked, cheerfully jumping off the bed, not facing her parents.

"Lucy you need to be more carefully." Annie told her. In the car she had been sympathetic, but that had passed. "Jeopardizing this so you could play? Why weren't you reading?"

"Ruthie and I were watching Matt and Mary while we drank our lemonade." She answered, shrugging, "it just kind of happened. I didn't plan it."

"That's not an excuse" Eric told her, "the baby was unplanned too."

"No duh" Lucy replied snottily, "you think I planned to be raped? Who plans for that to happen to them? You think I asked for this?"

"No Luce I don't" Annie replied, calm but firm, "but now that it's happened we can't go back. You're pregnant and you have a broken arm. We have to deal with the consequences of both and learn from the mistakes. What we've learned is to watch over you a bit more carefully."

"I'm not a little kid" Lucy told them, "I don't need someone hovering over my all the time."

"No your not a little kid" Eric agreed, "but you're not used to being like this either" he said, gesturing towards her stomach and arm. "We just want to make sure nothing goes wrong."

AN: sorry, I would have updated yesterday, but I snuck onto my dad's REALY ANNOYING computer to write it and it wouldn't send it in for some reason! I hate old computers!


	5. Chapter 5

"Stop forcing me to go!" Lucy screamed angrily, crossing her … well she would have crossed her arms if she'd been able.

"Luce, you need to go shopping." Annie pleaded with her.

"No"

"Come on!" she screamed, grabbing her daughter's hands and attempting to yank her upwards. Unfortunately, Lucy's combination of strength and weight resulted in Annie being pulled down next to her.

"I'm not going shopping."

"You used to love shopping!" Annie exclaimed.

"Why can't I just wear your old clothes?"

"You and I have different builds. You're smaller than I am anyways" Annie pointed out, standing again.

"Why does that matter?" Lucy shrugged, "I never leave the house anyways."

"Wouldn't you like to have something that fits?" Annie asked hopelessly.

"It'll just outgrow me in a couple of weeks anyways."

"Fine." Annie caved, stalking out of the room, "it's your comfort. Don't come crying to me when you have nothing that fits."

'I won't!" she called after her, flipping the TV to the news.

"And in recent news the number of teenage pregnancies has skyrocketed, mainly-"

Lucy jabbed the "off" button, deciding to find Mary. She hadn't done anything with Mary in a while. Stepping into the kitchen, she heard the steady dribble of a basketball. Quickly, she crossed the kitchen and onto the porch. "Here!" she called; ducking under Mary's arm Simon passed her the ball. Lucy dribbled a few times before sending it neatly into the basket, where Mary caught it.

"You can watch" she growled, backing up for a check.

"But I want to play" Lucy whined.

"You can't play" Mary said, bounce-passing Simon the ball.

"If this is because of the baby, I'm supposed to get exercise-"

"No duh it's about the baby" Mary growled, receiving the ball and placing it protectively under her arm to glare at Lucy, "you can't play like that. Plus, you have a broken arm. Just sit back and watch TV like a good girl."

"TV's boring."

"Too bad" whatever Lucy tried to do, Mary ignored her, bouncing the ball around Simon to shoot. Lucy turned her back, ready to storm into the kitchen when the sound of her parent's voice in the middle of an argument stopped her.

"She needs help" Annie whined.

"We can't afford help" Eric pointed out.

"She's in denial Eric. You can't imagine the strength this'll take for her, and if she denies that it's even happening it'll make everything ten times worse."

"I know."

"Then we have to do something."

"We can't afford much"

"What about those birthing classes? Doesn't the hospital give them for free? I could be her partner, or Mary, or whomever she wants."

"I don't see how-"

"It'll make it more real for her. It could work! And shouldn't there be a group for this at the church?"

"Well, we kind of spent the money that was going to go towards it." Eric answered sheepishly, "well, look at that. Better start on that sermon." His shoes clopped towards the door as he left. Lucy waited a second before taking a deep breath and entering the kitchen. It was empty. Confused, but not wanting to talk to her parents, she quickly grabbed a bag of pretzels, grabbed the clicker, and carefully plopped onto the fluffy couch. Sometimes, TV was better than family.


	6. Chapter 6

"Stop!' screamed the voice of her teammate. Mary halted as she caught the orange ball in her open hands. Agile, she weaved through the opponents, towards the basket. Quickly, she set up a perfect shot. The buzzer rang just as the ball swished through the hoop. Suddenly, a loud sob cut through the wonderful dream. Who was crying this late at night? More importantly, why did they have to disturb this particular dream? Sighing, she lifted her heavy eyelids. A burst of color met her eyes. It wasn't actually bright in the room, but she was facing the desk lamp between her and Lucy's bed, so it seemed that way.

The light lit up Lucy's face perfectly. She had jammed her knees as close to her chest as she could, clasping them tight with her hands. Tears flowed from her eyes, covered by her mess of bed head. Mary watched in awe as Ruthie wiped away Lucy's tears. Silently, she watched her two younger sisters interact.

"I'm so scared" Lucy whispered to her knees. "What if it hurts? What if I screw the kid up? I'm not ready for this."

"You know it's gonna hurt" Ruthie replied, kneeling across from Lucy, supporting herself on Lucy's knees.

"You're so cheerful."

"It's the truth" she replied, shrugging. "but mom will help you."

"Yeah, I'm gonna run back to mommy, when this whole thing is my fault."

"It's not your fault" Ruthie contradicted, "its Mary's."

"How is it Mary's fault?" Lucy asked, confused.

"She's the one who didn't stop you from going into the bedroom. She knew that guy was trouble, but she didn't stop it. You weren't even supposed to be at that party, but she took you, so it's her fault."

"I asked her to go." Lucy answered solemnly, unclasping her hands to wipe away her tears. Her legs fell criss-cross-applesauce.

"She could have said no" Ruthie told her, shrugging. A loud thump came from Annie and Eric's room, probably one of them heavily walking towards the bathroom. "I better go, is there anything else you need?"

"yeah" Lucy nodded, "a hug." She opened her arms wide as Ruthie crawled in. Her arms wrapped around Lucy's neck as Lucy's wrapped around her back. Ruthie pressed close to her sister, curving around her stomach and leaning against her shoulder. Lucy cried into Ruthie's shoulder, her grip loosened, but not completely. Mary watched for a long time until it was apparent that they had both fallen asleep. Lucy leaned back, against the wall, Ruthie slipped to use Lucy's belly as a pillow, her older sister's arms, now right below her shoulders.

Quietly, Mary got up. Ruthie's head couldn't be good for the baby, so gently she moved Ruthie to a pillow. Then, she spread a blanket from the closet over them both. Slipping back into bed, memories from that night floated up painfully.

"Please Mary?" Lucy begged, dropping to her knees and giving a very convincing puppy dog look.

"Fine" she groaned, "but you better not snitch."

"Duh" she responded, as if this was obvious.

The party was loud and noisy. Cans of beer stood, both opened and opened, on the counter. Boys and girls danced to a loud, thumping tune. Lucy had found a group of her friends, and they talked in a corner, all looking out of place. Mary found her way to her own friends, soon moving onto the dance floor. As she danced to a particularly tiring number, she watched Lucy blush bashfully as Todd talked to her. Todd looked perfect, but had a horrible rep. A reputation that Lucy knew nothing about. She tried to get past the crowd towards her sister, but they blocked her in. By the time she made her way to the edge of the thick crowded, blonde hair was whipping into a dark room as the door closed. She heard a protest, than the door clicked.

Mary waited for an hour outside the room until Lucy emerged, disheveled and looking as if she were about to cry. Hailey, a teammate of Mary's, had driven them, but they were close enough to walk home. Silently, they left and strolled through the street. As they walked up the drive way, Mary pulled her sister behind a bush. Calmly, she fixed her sister's hair as Lucy sobbed and sobbed. Slowly, she wiped away all traces of the party before rubbing away the tears.

"We saw a really sappy movie in the promenade with a couple of friends. Hailey gave us a ride home. The party never happened. If they smell drinks, we dropped by the pool hall to get Hailey's brother. We left a note, but they must not have found it. Got it?" Mary asked, looked straight into her sister's eyes, it was crucial that Lucy understood this. She nodded meekly, trying to stem her tears. Expertly, Mary pulled an old popcorn bag out of her purse, a few seeds jangled inside of it. She threw it in the trashcan before entering the kitchen.

The memories quickly morphed into dreams as she too fell asleep. By morning Ruthie had found a way to sleep comfortably with her head on the bed and her feet on the ground. Lucy had drifted onto the end table. No one would know what happened.

AN: sorry for the long break! Big bout of writer's block, but, I'm cooking up new chapters. I'm going to prolong this as long as possible!


	7. Chapter 7

"Stop here" Annie instructed. Eric pulled the van to a neat stop in front of the hospital entrance. Quickly, Annie opened her door and stepped out as Mary stepped out of the back door. Everyone exited the car as Matt took over the steering wheel.

"I'll call you on your cell phone when we know the room number." Eric instructed. "Don't hurry, there's plenty of time, try to find a good spot, okay?"

"'kay" he answered, watching his family enter, everyone crowded around Lucy. She had gone into labor many, many hours ago but wasn't nearly ready enough, and had been sent home. Now, with contractions 6 minutes apart, she would be admitted, although they still had hours ahead.

It took ten minutes to get a room, and another five before pain medications were administered.

"Thanks God" Lucy sighed, leaning back on her pillow. Yes, contractions were still painful, but they were so much more bearable. Still, she clutched the bed rail in pain. Trying to occupy herself, she took in her hospital room. It was a good size, to accommodate all the people that would be coming in and out in the coming hours. Currently, three women occupied the space. Lucy, in bed, Mary, reading a book, and Annie, standing worriedly beside Lucy. Eric was putting Ruthie and a protesting Simon into the hospital's day care, although it was hardly day. The contractions had started lightly during dinner. Unfortunately, as they should, they strengthened over the hours, not letting Lucy sleep. Now she had been awake for twenty hours straight, and it was 5 in the morning. There would be no possibility of sleep until this baby came.

Sadly, that seemed to take a while. When she was first checked, the doctor had declared her to be a good 6 centimeters dilated. The second time, an hour later, her water had just broken and she was 7 centimeters. The third time she had progressed a mere half centimeter. Now, 4 hours since entering the hospital and after a full day of labor, she was a little over 9.

"Lucy" the doctor asked curiously, "do you feel the urge to push?" Of course, Lucy was in pain from a contraction and didn't answer immediately.

"Ow" she huffed as it ended moments later. "Maybe…maybe a little" she answered, breathing deeply. Was she ready? Was it time yet?

"Okay, you're about 9 centimeters now, close to 9 ½. I know you've always been told, wait for ten, and we will, but do you want to practice a little, now? Not a lot, we don't want any tearing, but just enough to know you've got the hang of it?" she asked, explaining calmly.

Biting her lower lip, the teenager looked questioningly at her mother.

"It's your choice." Annie told her, "completely your choice."

"Um….what do you think?" she asked the doctor, sitting up a little more.

"I think that because you're so young, some practice would be good. You'll want to be as in control as possible when the time comes, and this is the only way I can think of to help you with that."

"Okay" she agreed, nodding.

"Alright. Now, to push, just do what feels natural. I'll be able to tell if you're doing it right, okay? You'll push for counts of ten, and then rest. Just until the contractions over. We'll see how quickly you get the hand of this. Any questions?" she asked, sitting down on her stool, and pulling a tray of shiny, scary-looking equipment over.

"Am I allowed to scream?" Lucy asked, nervously placing on hand on the rail, the other in her mother's palm.

"Make any kind of noise you want." Dr. Simon answered, smiling encouragingly. Remember, don't use all your energy right now, I'm just making sure you have the idea." The room was silent, except for a whirring and beeping of machines. "Okay, here comes a contraction. And….." Lucy's face tightened in pain, "push".

Lucy let out a low, monotonous moan as she pushed. Her chin connected with her chest as her mother's hand turned white from the pressure being exerted onto it.

"…9…10. Stop" the doctor counted calmly. "Breathe. You did really well Luce, but we can't practice anymore, you're to close." It didn't seem as though Lucy was hearing what the doctor had said. She had pulled her feet out of the stirrups they'd been in and curled slightly towards her mother.

"It hurts" she whispered between moans. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Annie smiled apologetically at Dr. Simon and bent down so that she was face-to face with her daughter. Eric crossed the room to join her.

"Sweetie, I know it hurts, but you have to trust me here. It's worth it. And it'll all be over soon. I promise."

"But it HURTS" she insisted.

"Do you want to ask for a C-Section?" Eric asked, smoothing down her hair.

"I want one" she whispered, nodding. Eric stood and began to talk to the doctor.

"Baby, you're being so brave" Annie assured her, smoothing out her hair. "I'm so proud of you."

"Proud of me for being pregnant at fourteen?" Lucy asked sarcastically.

"It's not your fault Luce, I know that. I'm proud of how you never ran away from that. I'm proud of you for struggling through and entire day of labor. Many women decide to have a C-Section before they've even gone into labor, but you struggled through more then I ever did. I was never in labor for more than 18 hours at a time. You've made many adult decisions, and I'm prouder than you can imagine." She whispered, a weak smile spreading across her face. She kissed Lucy lightly on the head before moving away so Dr. Simon could talk to Lucy.

"Alright sweetie. You're being a real trouper, but I'm going to ask you to wait a little longer, okay? Do you think you can bear about twenty more minutes, or is that too much?" she asked kindly. "It's only because we only have one room open for this kind of surgery, and we like to have one open for a big emergency. One room is just finishing up now, and we can be in there in twenty minutes tops, okay?" Lucy merely nodded. "Okay. So, we can't really let a lot of your family in, you're only allowed one person, but I think I can convince them to let both parents in, considering your circumstances. I'll be back in a couple minutes with gowns for them and a hair net for you. We'll also be strengthening your epidural a bit. Okay?" Again, Lucy's only response was to nod.

"Alright, I'll see you then." She whispered, patting Lucy's head as she stood and left.

"Matt" Lucy heard her father say, "Can you and Mary go pick up Simon and Ruthie?"

"Sure" he replied, and Lucy heard his and Mary's footsteps as they left the room.

"mmmmmmmmmmmooooow" Lucy groaned as another contraction started up.

Ten minutes later both Eric and Annie were putting on scrubs as Lucy tried to fit her long hair into an ugly net.

"Hey Luce" Matt whispered, pushing open her door. Ruthie giggled from her place riding on his back, as Simon burst passed them. Trailing quietly behind was Mary.

"Are you gonna have the baby now?" Simon asked eagerly. For some odd reason, the boy was looking forward to this.

"Soon" she answered, wincing as he jumped onto the bed, accidentally landing on her right leg. Matt carefully pried him off the bed before placing Ruthie beside Luce. Not discouraged, Simon popped up on Lucy's left, surprising her. "Hi" she greeted.

Just then the door creaked open, and all eyes fell on Dr. Simon. "Alright Luce?"

"Yeah"

"Everything's all set" she told her, striding over and helping her tuck the last strands of hair away. "Just say good-bye for now, okay?" Lucy nodded as the arms of Ruthie and Simon enveloped her. Lifting her arms over their heads, she hugged back, and it was a full minute before anyone let go. Then came Matt, bringing Mary up behind him.

As he hugged her he whispered something in her ear. "I'm proud to be your brother."

Not looking at her, Mary offered a light, insufficient hug. Then her parents hugged her. Although they would, of course, be there, it would be impossible for them to hug her during the procedure.

"It's a roller coaster ride" Eric joked as the bed was rolled a couple rooms over. He continued to joke, but Annie barley said a word. Instead, she just held Lucy's hand; keep a constant, reassuring pressure for her. When the curtain went up, Annie stayed by her side, but Eric moved a little to watch, but still support his daughter.

"Does this hurt?" Lucy heard Dr. Simon ask as she felt an odd sensation on her stomach.

"No" it didn't exactly hurt. No, it was more like ice-water was cutting into her. It was cold, and she could feel it, but it didn't hurt, exactly. Now the cut was being pushed apart, and there was some pressure. Then more. A whole lot of pressure. She gripped her mother's hand tightly, but out of nerves, not pain.

"Here's the baby" she heard the doctor laugh. Pressure released slowly, but she didn't hear the cries of a newborn infant. Instead, a couple nurses crowded around a small hospital-bassinet, their arms moving quickly. As Lucy felt the sensation of ice-water stitching the wound closed a nurse walked over, carrying a small bundle in her arms. She looked as if she were about to hand it to Eric, but he backed away, so any took it.

"He gave us quiet a scare" the nurse told them, "lots of gunk in his mouth, but he's fine now." She smiled at Lucy as Annie brought the baby down to eye level.

"My baby" Lucy whispered, touching his little face tentatively. "I'm a mother."

"And I'm a grandma" Annie added, smiling at the baby too. Eric had mysteriously gone. They assumed (correctly) that he was telling everyone else the news.

**AN:** sorry about not updating in FOREVER. I'm not sure how many more people will read this, and there's a 75 chance this is my last chapter, but who knows, right? If this gets a good enough reaction I might write one or two more, but I've sadly lost a lot of interest in this story.


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